Luminaires with automated and remotely controllable functionality are well known in the entertainment and architectural lighting markets. Such products are commonly used in theatres, television studios, concerts, theme parks, night clubs, and other venues. As well as providing control over the pan and tilt functions of the luminaire, allowing an operator to control the direction the luminaire is pointing, automated luminaires often also provide control over a color of an emitted light beam. This color control may be provided via a subtractive color mixing process through the movement of color wheels, flags, or other similar colored filters. These colored filters may be graded from one end to the other with increasing saturation of the filter's color. By moving the filter partway into the light beam, a colored beam with varying saturation may be obtained. Combining two or more of these variable saturation filters one after the other in the optical train with different colors may be used to provide a variable color mixing system producing a wide gamut of colors.